Barney Fife: Songs, Poems, and Other Words of Note (video)

 

 

The great Don Knotts portrayed one of TV's most classic characters, Deputy Bernard P. "Barney" Fife, during the best seasons of "The Andy Griffith Show."

One of his favorite pastimes was calling up his girlfriend Juanita down at the Bluebird Diner and regaling her with a romantic song or poem that he had concocted just for her. Or in one case, an ode to his own dashing exploits as a lawman.

And sometimes, to his great horror and embarrassment, his pal Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) would come through the front door at just the wrong time.

 

Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

 

Barney Fife: Songs, Poems, and Other Words of Note (video)

THE LOVE GOD? -- Movie Review by Porfle

(This is part four of my look at the "Don Knotts Reluctant Hero Pack", a two-sided DVD containing four of Don's best-known movies: THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT, THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST, and THE LOVE GOD?)


In THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT, and THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST, we got to see Don Knotts' nervous-guy character face his biggest fears and triumph over them in the end. But in THE LOVE GOD? (1969), he finally faces his biggest fear of all...S-E-X.

Don's previous films all skittered around the subject of sex, but in a non-overt, family-friendly way. THE LOVE GOD?, on the other hand, is obsessed with the subject. In fact, it almost plays like a psychic prediction of Larry Flynt's famous First Amendment difficulties, as Don plays the owner of a bankrupt birdwatching magazine who is duped by unscrupulous pornographer Osborn Tremaine (the great Edmond O'Brien) into serving as the figurehead for a dirty magazine because Tremaine has just been legally stripped of mailing privileges for his own porno mag. At first horrified by what he's gotten himself into, Don's character (Abner Audubon Peacock IV, of "The Peacock" magazine) soon find himself hailed by the public as a fearless crusader for the First Amendment and the sexual revolution.


Which, of course, doesn't sit well with the folks back home, including the congregation of the church where Abner's virtuoso birdcall performance is a highlight of the annual choir recital (Don's rendition of this is absolutely priceless), and the reverend's ever-faithful daughter Rose Ellen (Maggie Peterson) patiently waits for her beloved Abner to return and pop the question. Meanwhile, Abner keeps getting in deeper and deeper, as feared mob boss J. Charles Twilight (B.S. Pully) takes an active interest in "The Peacock" magazine, and aspiring journalist Lisa LaMonica (Anne Francis, FORBIDDEN PLANET, "Honey West"), who has been chosen to run the magazine and turn Abner into an international sex symbol, takes an increasingly active interest in him.

There's a lot of funny stuff in this movie, but is it a proper Don Knotts movie? Not according to what's gone before. His other offerings were innocuous, family-friendy fare that, while flirting with the subject of sex at times in a general way, were still wholesome and innocent enough to be enjoyed by the entire family. THE LOVE GOD?, on the other hand, plays like one long, smutty, third-grade joke, and the joke's on Don. We've always been happy to laugh with his characters, but here, we're urged to laugh at him--the prim, straight-laced, trembling virgin who is afraid of women and terrified of sex. While his previous three films remain unrated (but would probably each get a G), THE LOVE GOD? is rated PG-13--not quite what most of Don's fans would be expecting from one of his movies. So who's this movie made for? Don Knotts fans who have been patiently suffering through his previous films waiting for more T & A?

On the plus side, Don is in fine form here, making the most of what the script impels him to do. His first performance of the birdcall recital is sublime, but later in the film when he fears that mobster J. Charles Twilight has come to whack him, his frantic, screwed-up rendition of the same piece is hilarious. It's also fun to see him trying to function as a Hugh Hefner/Bob Guccione type, strutting around town in horrendous mod outfits with an entourage of beautiful women, in a series of delightfully retro 60s-camp situations. But when Anne Francis' Lisa LaMonica starts taking advantage of his sexual inexperience to manipulate him, the sweetly-innocent Don Knotts character finally begins to lapse into the pathetic.


Part of the reason for this is that Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum, the veteran "Andy Griffith Show" writers who handled the scripts for Don's previous three films, are missing here, and writer-director Nat Hiken just doesn't seem to fully understand what makes Knotts tick as a screen presence. Sure, he's a coward, and he sinks to the depths of despair before the film's final act (especially when Lisa LaMonica tricks him into thinking he's had sex with her, which spoils his chances to marry the pristine Rose Ellen), but there's no cathartic triumph over his fears that redeems his character in the end. What--is he supposed to triumph over his fear of sex? The only victory Abner Peacock has here is when he finally punches J. Charles Twilight in the nose. It's only through sheer happenstance that Abner ends up living happily-ever-after at the end of THE LOVE GOD?, and that's just not the way it should be.

Taken as a smutty sex comedy, though, THE LOVE GOD? does have its pleasures. As a fan of the voluptuous Maureen Arthur (HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, HOW TO COMMIT MARRIAGE), I find it delightful that her role as Osborn Tremaine's wife and chief model for his magazine affords her the opportunity to parade around in sexy outfits and pose for wonderfully lewd photographs. Holy mackerel, she was so incredibly sexy that I just get giddy watching her--and she was funny to boot. Abner's "Pussycats" are nice to look at, too, but they don't make that much of an impression, especially next to a wildly-mugging Don Knotts. Anne Francis, of course, is a certified babe from way back, but in this movie she just tries too doggone hard to be funny and sexy, and generally just comes off looking silly.

One of the funniest things about the movie, in fact, is seeing mobster J. Charles Twilight taking instruction from retired schoolteacher Miss Love (Jesslyn Fax, THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN), whom he has hired to teach him "class." From her, he learns the error of saying "Me and Nutsy Herman got the contract to go to upstate New York to knock off Big-Nose Schlossburg...", as he writes in his assigned theme, instead of the correct "Nutsy Herman and I." She also teaches him a new word every day, such as "fastidious" and "prerogative", which he awkwardly shoehorns into his speech at every opportunity.

With the marked absence of writers Fritzell and Greenbaum, there's not much of an "Andy Griffith Show" connection here, with the exception of the church choir singing a hysterical version of "Juanita"--Barney Fife's self-written ode to his girlfriend at the Bluebird Diner--and the casting of Maggie Peterson (who played man-hungry hillbilly Charlene Darling) as Rose Ellen. As usual, there's a fine assortment of familiar faces all over the place, such as James Gregory (who seems to relish his role as Abner's defense attorney and makes the most of it), Don Knotts stock players Jim Boles and Jim Begg, James Westerfield as Rose Ellen's father Reverend Wilkerson, Herbie Faye, and Bob Hastings. And once again, Vic Mizzy supplies a suitably lighthearted musical score.

But on the whole, THE LOVE GOD? suffers in comparison to Don Knotts' earlier films, because the people who made it just didn't seem to understand his film persona--or else they thought it would be funny to pervert it and turn the character into a pitiful, emasculated butt of cheap sex jokes. So while there's much to enjoy in this movie--no Don Knotts film could possibly be entirely without its pleasures--it certainly doesn't do justice to his established screen character. Imagine Thelma Lou making fun of Barney Fife for having a tiny "you-know-what." That's THE LOVE GOD? in a nutshell.

THE LOVE GOD? -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST -- Movie Review by Porfle

(This is part three of my look at the "Don Knotts Reluctant Hero Pack", a two-sided DVD containing four of Don's best-known movies: THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT, THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST, and THE LOVE GOD?)

The years 1966-68 saw the appearance of three Don Knotts comedies in quick succession--THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT, and 1968's THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST--each of which dealt with Don's nervous-guy character by placing him in hazardous situations that forced him to somehow overcome his natural cowardice. In the latter entry, he was swept all the way back to the rip-roarin' Old West of 1870, complete with gunslingers, outlaws, and marauding Indians. Which, I would think, would be a pretty nerve-wracking place for a coward to be.

Don plays Jesse W. Haywood (a nod to Don's actual name, Jesse Donald Knotts), a dentist whose dream is to spread dental health throughout the West. After a rib-tickling main titles song by The Wilburn Brothers, the film gets off to a rousing start as we see Jesse trying to examine a fiercely-unwilling patient, Miss Stevenson, during his final "pass-or-fail" dentistry exam, which turns into a UFC-style fist-flying brawl. "How's it going, Haywood?" asks rival dental student Phelps ("Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman"'s Greg Mullavey, in one of this film's few running gags), to which Jesse responds "Fine...just fine" even as his fingers are being chomped. Once he gets his diploma, he bids a tearful farewell to his mother (Ruth McDevitt), then hops a train and it's westward ho.

Meanwhile, the notorious bandit Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushings (Barbara Rhoades) has just been captured after a long career of cattle rustling, stagecoach robbing, etc. But the sheriff (Ed Peck) offers her a deal--she must go undercover and travel West on a wagon train suspected of carrying smugglers who are supplying rifles to the Indians, and if she discovers their identity and nabs them, she'll get a pardon. But there's a catch--no unaccompanied women are allowed on the wagon train, and the agent who was to pose as her husband (John Wayne stock player Ed Faulkner) just got killed. So she needs to find a husband fast. Guess who she picks? Right--the duded-up, derby-wearing "tender ninny" (as she sneeringly refers to him during their first encounter), Jesse.

Her seduction of Haywood, when she comes to him for a feigned dental complaint and lets her cleavage do the talking, is still high on my short list of things that jump-started my puberty. Whether dressed in denim and rawhide and packing six-guns, or tarted up like a dancehall girl, Barbara Rhoades made my hormones yell "Yee-haaa!" But enough of my personal problems...

On the way West, the wagon train is attacked by Indians. Penny secretly disposes of them all, but Doc Haywood mistakenly thinks he's the big Indian fighter. So as soon as they get into town, he buys the standard black gunfighter outfit and goes swaggering around, revelling in his new status as a dead-shot Indian fighter. But the rifle smugglers (Don "Red" Barry and "The Addams Family"'s Uncle Fester, Jackie Coogan) hire a feared gunfighter named Arnold the Kid to challenge Doc Haywood to a shootout. Can you guess what happens?

Finally the truth comes out and Jesse realizes he's been duped, which leads to a great "Don gets drunk" scene in the local saloon. But just as things look their worst, Penny is kidnapped by the rifle smugglers and taken to a nearby Indian camp, and Jesse realizes he's her only hope. So he sobers up, straps on his six-gun, and goes to her rescue, resolving to save her from the bad guys even if it means dressing up as an Indian maiden and getting hit on by some horny Indian dudes. And when she finds out how brave he really is, Penny at last finds herself smitten by the "tender ninny", giving hope to all of us nerds who always dreamed of having the hottest babes in school fall for us somehow.

Once again, the cast is populated with familiar faces. Jim Begg of THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN reappears as a deputy who lives for excitement ("I just love this kinda stuff!" he exclaims in another running gag). The great Carl Ballantine ("McHale's Navy") and a surprisingly-young Pat Morita play storekeepers who cheat Jesse out of his every last cent as he attempts to equip himself for the journey West. Frank McGrath of THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT reappears as one of the people on the wagon train. MASH's William Christopher shows up as a hotel clerk, Eddie Quillan (the elevator operator from THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN) is a train porter, and Burt Mustin makes his third straight appearance in a Don Knotts comedy. Legendary character actor Dub Taylor even shows up as Penny's outlaw accomplace early on, before he decides to go to Boston to open up a little dress shop.

As in Don's previous two flicks, James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum ("The Andy Griffith Show", THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT) are involved in the screenplay, along with Edmund L. Hartmann and the redoubtable Frank Tashlin, in this update of Bob Hope's classic comedy THE PALEFACE. Vic Mizzy is on hand once again to provide an appropriately lighthearted musical score. THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN'S Alan Rafkin ably directs. And aside from Fritzell and Greenbaum, the "Andy Griffith Show" connection here includes an appearance by Hope "Clara Edwards" Summers.

A worthy addition to the Don Knotts oeuvre, THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST is an endlessly fun romp that should please his fans. It's Don Knotts at his best, and that's pretty much as good as it gets.

THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT -- Movie Review by Porfle

(This is part two of my look at the "Don Knotts Reluctant Hero Pack", a two-sided DVD containing four of Don's best-known movies: THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT, THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST, and THE LOVE GOD?)

Following on the heels of Don Knotts' previous comedy success, 1966's THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT (1967) continues the adventures of Don's patented nervous-guy character, who always seems to find himself in situations that stretch his jangled nerves to the limit and force him to act beyond his normal capabilities in order to succeed. And what better way to do that than to strap him into a rocket and shoot him into outer space?

This time Don plays Roy Fleming, a nervous type (naturally) who is so terrified of heights that he "can't even get up on a chair to get the marmalade." He runs a modest little outer-space ride in a local amusement park, pretending to be an astronaut and taking the kids on space adventures in a mock-up rocketship. But his father, Buck (Arthur O'Connell), a WWI hero with big dreams for his son, keeps sending in his astronaut application to NASA. And one day, the Flemings receive a shocking letter--Roy's been accepted!

The prospect of being dozens of miles off his beloved terra firma terrifies Roy, but it also helps him win over the girl he's got the hots for, Ellie Jackson (Joan Freeman), who runs a concession stand in the amusement park, and raises him to the upper reaches of his father's estimation at long last. But when Roy gets to NASA, he discovers that he hasn't been accepted as a prospective astronaut after all, but as a janitor. And not even that--he's an apprentice janitor.


At this point, it's too late to tell the truth to his proud parents and all his admiring friends back home, so he keeps up the charade for as long as he can--until one day when his father and a couple of his old pals show up for an unexpected visit. Abandoning his mop, Roy hastily dons a space suit, gives the guys a highly scientifically-inaccurate tour of the space facility, destroys a rocket sled, and gets fired in front of his father. But just as it appears that Roy must slink home in disgrace, an amazing development occurs--the Russians send a dentist into outer space in order to prove the infallibility of their automated rocket ship. So NASA decides to respond by putting the most inexperienced person they can think of into orbit. Which, of course, turns out to be Roy.

THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT repeats various elements set into motion way back on "The Andy Griffith Show" and continued in THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN. Don Knotts plays a cowardly failure who gets his big chance to succeed and rises to the occasion, winning the affections of the hottest babe in town along the way, and gets plenty of chances to play his nervous-guy character to the hilt. There's a drunk scene (this didn't happen in GHOST, but Barney Fife was always accidentally getting drunk, remember?), and it's always fun to watch Don get gassed. He has a big brother-type friend who, like Sheriff Andy Taylor, looks out for him and helps bolster his ego--this time it's Major Fred Gifford, a famous astronaut who befriends Roy and suggests him as the perfect candidate for the upcoming space shot.

There are running gags--people are always posing for Rush (Paul Hartman) to take their picture but his camera never works, Roy is always being urged to "do a countdown" ("Three, two, one...puh-KEWWW!") and, whenever his loved ones see him off at the airport, the acrophobic Roy sneaks away to catch a bus instead, etc. The script is written by "Andy Griffith Show" vets James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum, who also wrote GHOST and knew how to bring out the best in Don Knotts. And Vic Mizzy contributes another of his pleasantly goofy comedy scores.

Once again, the capable supporting cast is dotted with great familiar faces. Arthur O'Connell and Jeanette Nolan play his parents, while Frank McGrath ("Wooster" the cook on TV's "Wagon Train") and Paul Hartman ("Emmitt the Fix-It Man" on the later Griffith show episodes) are funny and endearing as Buck Fleming's friends. Jesse White (the "Maytag repairman" for those old enough to remember) is Roy's unforgiving janitorial boss, and Burt Mustin, Guy Raymond, and Nydia Westman are on hand as well. Familiar child star Pamelyn Ferdin even makes a brief appearance as a little girl who has to go to the bathroom during Roy's space ride ("We have just touched down!" he abruptly announces). But the biggest surprise, for those familiar with Leslie Nielsen only as a comedian, will be seeing him playing straight man to Don's character. He's very likable here as the dashing Major Gifford, but nowadays he'd be the one getting the laughs.

THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT isn't quite the all-round success that THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN was a year earlier, but it's still very enjoyable in a low-key way, and family-friendly without being sappy or saccharine. There are even a couple of fairly emotional scenes between Don and Arthur O'Connell as father and son that are nicely handled. The best part, though, is when Roy Fleming makes it to outer space (complete with some endearingly hokey special effects) only to have everything go wrong. In a delightful turn of events, he is able to astound Major Gifford and the other guys at mission control by falling back on his old space-ride character in order to save the day--which is just the sort of thing that makes a Don Knotts movie so much fun to watch.

THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN -- Movie Review by Porfle

(This is part one of my look at the "Don Knotts Reluctant Hero Pack", a two-sided DVD containing four of Don's best-known movies: THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT, THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST, and THE LOVE GOD?)

When three-time Emmy winner Don Knotts left his role as the beloved deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show" for a career in movies, THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN (1966) was his second starring role (the first was THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET, a mix of animation and live-action that appeared two years earlier). And, as many of his fans will probably agree, the second was the best, as this is probably still the mostly fondly-remembered movie Don ever made--especially if you first saw it when you were a kid.

One reason for this is that his character, Luther Heggs, is the closest one to Barney Fife that Don ever played in a film. He wears the same old suit and hat, lives in a small town just like Mayberry, and has several of the same characteristics--he's a coward who manages to do brave things when the chips are down, he likes to brag and bask in the attention of others, and he claims to know karate ("My whole body's a weapon" he brags, a quote right out of "The Andy Griffith Show").

Luther is a typesetter for the local newspaper but he dreams of becoming a reporter. So when he's offered the chance to write a big story by spending a night in the old Simmons place, a spooky mansion which most of the townspeople are convinced is haunted, he jumps at the chance. (He's chosen for the job because the paper's owner, played by Dick Sargent, wants somebody with a wild imagination who's also a bit of a kook.)


So, on the anniversary of the night twenty years earlier when Old Man Simmons murdered his wife and then ran up to the organ loft to play maniacal music on a huge pipe organ before throwing himself out the window to his death, Luther enters the house with nothing but a flashlight, a sleeping bag, and a severe nervous condition. Several things happen to seriously spook him out: he jumps when he suddenly sees himself in a mirror, a dressmaker's dummy casts an eerie shadow on the wall, and an old Victrola starts playing by itself (this part is reminiscent of a similar scene in THE EVIL DEAD--maybe Sam Raimi's a Don Knotts fan).

But when Luther beds down for the night on an old couch, the real fun begins--he hears footsteps and clinking chains, followed by crazed laughter which seems to be coming from the organ loft. Creeping upstairs, he finds the cobweb-covered pipe organ, with bloodstains still on the keys. And at the stroke of midnight, the organ begins playing by itself. Practically jumping out of his skin, Luther hightails it downstairs where he finds the portrait of Mrs. Simmons with a pair of gardening shears stuck in her throat and blood gushing from the wound. That's when he passes out.

Luther's night in the Simmons place is the centerpiece of the film, although it happens fairly early on. It generates the rest of the events that take place, which include Luther's being hailed as a town hero, landing the girl of his dreams, and finally being sued for libel by the Simmons' nephew Nick, who is in town trying to have the mansion bulldozed to the ground and its memory erased. The final third of the film follows the trial, and then a return by all involved to the Simmons place to determine whether or not anything supernatural is really going on there.

The story is fun and involving all the way thanks to veteran "Andy Griffith Show" writers James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum, who penned some of that series' best episodes. Some wonderful running gags keep popping up, such as the "Attaboy" guy who is never seen but always heard ("Attaboy, Luther!" "Attaboy, judge!") and Mrs. Cobb (Nydia Westman), the old lady from Luther's boarding house who is forever amazed by the fact that no one was ever able to wash the bloodstains off the organ keys ("And they used Bon Ami!" is her frequent catchphrase).

There's the elevator operator (Eddie Quillan) who can never stop the elevator level with any floor (which results in a hilarious sight gag), and local cop Herkie (Jim Begg), who takes his job a little too seriously. The rest of the cast is filled with an almost endless list of familiar faces, including Burt Mustin, Harry Hickox, and two unbilled "Andy Griffith Show" regulars, Hal Smith and Hope Summers.

But the main reason this movie is so much fun to watch is its star, Don Knotts. Whether he's improbably winning the affections of the most voluptuous babe in town, Alma Parker (November 1958's Playmate Of The Month, Joan Staley), or confronting his bitter rival, Alma's erstwhile boyfriend and ace reporter Ollie Weaver (the great Skip Homier), we're pulling for him all the way. I can't imagine not being a Don Knotts fan, but for those of us who are, his performance in this film is awesome. This is Don at his nervous, blustery best, and he plays the role like a virtuoso--putting his high-strung character in the middle of such blood-chilling supernatural goings-on was an ideal choice and Don makes the most of it. He's well-served by veteran comedy director Alan Rafkin, who also helmed Andy Griffith's ANGEL IN MY POCKET (1969) as well as numerous classic TV sitcom episodes, and composer Vic Mizzy, here contributing one of his most memorable comedy scores.

I first saw this movie during a Saturday afternoon matinee in a theater filled with other wildly enthusiastic kids, which is still one of my most fondly-remembered communal moviegoing experiences. It doesn't scare me anymore like it used to (although there are a few pretty good shocks), but THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN is still a joy to watch and, along with "The Andy Griffith Show", remains the perfect Don Knotts vehicle and the best way for kids and adults alike to appreciate his unique talent. Attaboy, Don!

THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN -- Movie Review by Porfle

MATLOCK: THE THIRD SEASON -- DVD review by porfle

 

Originally posted on 6/28/09

 

It's a shame that "Matlock" is widely perceived as an "old people's show." I never watched it during its first run for that very reason, figuring that it would be about as much fun as spending an hour with Andy Rooney. Boy, was I wrong!

MATLOCK: THE THIRD SEASON has converted me. This 5-disc set of twenty episodes has turned me into a certified "Matlock" addict, marvelling at the sharp, clever writing and hanging on every nuance of Andy Griffith's brilliant performance as the title character. Griffith milks the role for all it's worth, with such a relaxed, natural style that it barely looks like he's working at all. Which, of course, is a testament to the effort, skill, and devious intelligence behind the creation of his onscreen persona.

Ben Matlock has the soul of a cantankerous country lawyer in the big city (Atlanta, Georgia) with the kind of clientele that reflects his exhorbitant fee. He's not a big spender, though--he lives in a modest suburban house, his favorite food is hot dogs, and he wears the same light gray suit every day. Although possessing an easygoing sense of humor most of the time, he's still a crotchety old coot who's set in his ways. This sometimes lulls suspects into underestimating until he gets them on the witness stand and goes in for the kill.

 

Griffith's co-stars changed a lot over the show's nine seasons (1986-1995); in year three, he's ably supported by regulars Nancy Stafford, Julie Sommars, and Kene Holliday. The statuesque Stafford plays Matlock's assistant, Michelle Thomas, and aside from being a knockout she's good at giving the star someone to trade dialogue with. Even more appealing is Sommar's character Julie March, a district attorney who has some sweetly romantic interplay with Matlock when she isn't opposing him in court. Unfortunately, her character is sparsely seen, probably to give Ben more combative courtroom opponents like APOCALYPSE NOW's Albert Hall, who makes numerous guest appearances as a no-nonsense D.A. Holliday is great as private investigator Tyler Hudson, taking care of Matlock's legwork in addition to handling most of the show's infrequent action scenes.

One of the best things about season three is that it introduces Andy Griffith's old pal Don Knotts as his bothersome new neighbor, Les "Ace" Calhoun. Similar to their relationship as Mayberry's sheriff Andy Taylor and deputy Barney Fife, Ben and Les are an odd couple who have a warm affection for each other even though Les can often be an insufferable, self-important screw-up who gets in the way a lot--in other words, he's not much different from Barney Fife. Knotts is his usual excellent self in the role and his appearances on the show are always a cause for celebration.

 

Some of the other noteworthy guest stars to appear in season three include Seymore Cassell, Cindy Morgan (TRON), Lisa Hartman, Dorian Harewood, David Ogden Stiers, Georg Stanford Brown, Mitchell Laurance, Richard Herd, Dennis Franz, Ford Rainey, Nana Visitor ("Deep Space Nine"), Peter Mark Richman, John Harkins, Dirk Blocker, Frances Fisher, Claude Akins, Don Swayze, Fran Ryan, Heidi Swedberg (the ill-fated Susan from "Seinfeld"), former "Andy Griffith Show" regular Jack Dodson, Roger Davis, Anne Francis, Thomas "Tiny" Lister, Roddy McDowall, Sam McMurray, Nia Peeples, and John Rubinstein. Daniel Roebuck would join the cast a few years later but shows up a couple of times here as aspiring attorney Alex Winter.

Like "Perry Mason", each episode begins with a murder and offers several suspects besides the one actually charged with the crime (whom we know is innocent, or else Matlock wouldn't be defending them). Then it's up to Matlock to investigate and uncover the evidence that the police missed, mull it all over in his mind until he comes up with some brilliant deduction, and then do his stuff in the courtroom. One thing's for sure--Matlock gets away with a lot more than Perry Mason ever did. He's often given such free reign while grilling a witness that you expect to hear an objection after every other sentence, and when it doesn't come you wonder if the judge and D.A. have fallen asleep or something. The only thing that I don't like about this show is that once Matlock gets that final witness/suspect on the stand, his prolonged and barely-contested dismantling of the poor sap is pretty much like shooting fish in a barrel. Still, Griffith is always able to play each of these scenes to the hilt.

Be that as it may, this collection is filled with sharply-written, well-mounted episodes that rarely fail to entertain. Some of them are directed by formerly blacklisted Leo Penn (father of Sean and Chris), who also appears onscreen as a murdered priest in the aptly-titled "The Priest." Don Knotts' series debut is in the episode "The Lemon", in which he gets gypped by a crooked car salesman who later turns up underneath one of his own cars, with Les himself as the main suspect. "The Black Widow" is an intriguing look at one of the rare cases Matlock lost, after which the wrongly-convicted man is paroled after seven years only to discover that the wife he's supposed to have killed is still alive--whereupon he gets charged with murdering her again!

In "The Model", Matlock is hit by a car just as he makes a mental breakthrough in a case, then must struggle to remember it while lying in a hospital bed. "The Vendetta" guest-stars Mitchell Laurance as a revenge-seeking man who holds Michelle, Julie, and Tyler hostage in Ben's office until he arrives. This turns out to be a clip show, but it's one of the best I've ever seen and ends on a delightfully hilarious note. The set also features three 2-part episodes that are consistently involving.

All in all, this is a superb collection. Aside from being Grandpa Simpson's favorite show, MATLOCK is one of the most entertaining series I've ever watched--it fully qualifies as "classic television" in every sense of the term. And as a showcase for the great Andy Griffith's remarkable skill as an actor, it's in a class by itself.

MATLOCK: THE THIRD SEASON -- DVD review by porfle